Rugby vs NFL Athleticism

10 Reasons Rugby Players Are Better Athletes Than NFL Players

After a long, harsh summer of sunshine and blue skies, we armchair athletes and weekend warriors can once again relive our glory days and bond with the time-honored tailgate. That's right, the NFL is back, and your Sundays, Mondays and occasional Thursdays once again have meaning. And far be it from us to take that away from you; we at AskMen enjoy kicking back with a cold brew and a warm TV dinner to take in the games as much as anyone.

But there's an assumption underpinning your enjoyment — an unstated belief in the superior athleticism of the NFL's running backs, wide receivers and defensive backs — that only gets vocalized in heated debates with misguided soccer fans, and the Rugby World Cup is making a mockery of it. These guys are strong, fast and capable of delivering bone-crushing hits without missing a beat. That's right: it's time to reignite the rugby vs football debate.

Dare we say it it?

The average level of athleticism on display at this year's Rugby World Cup is higher than what you'll find on Monday Night Football.

Rugby Players Have Better Stamina

This one will come as no surprise to people who have played both sports, but rugby makes significantly more demands on your lungs than football. Not only is the action mostly non-stop, but there are very few points in the game when a rugby player is taking a break; they tend to run for almost all of the 80-minute match. Compare that to football, where the average game broadcast is three hours long, but the ball is only in play for an average of 11 minutes. And you linemen: we love you, but try keeping those guts and running non-stop for more than an hour per game — it ain't happening.

Everyone Plays Both Ways

Unlike in football, where there is an offense and a defense, rugby players have to learn to play on both sides of the ball. This isn't exactly a strange concept: soccer players, hockey players and basketball players don't get to take time off just because the other team happens to have the ball. But it does mean that rugby players have to have a broader skill base than their football counterparts. Hell, football players are so segregated based on which side of the ball they play on, they basically hold separate practices for offense and defense.

No Specialization

To continue from the last point: a consequence of the kind of mayhem created in a rugby game is that, at any given time, any player can end up with the ball in their hands. That means that every player has to be able to make good, strong passes and be able to catch the ball. Imagine what football would look like if every lineman had to have hands like Randy Moss, or every quarterback had to be able to block like J.J. Watt?

The Love Of The Game

Alright, let's concede from the start that both rugby and football are brutal sports that take a huge toll on the human body. If there's one reason rugby players deserve your respect, it's that they put their bodies on the line for pennies on the dollar compared to what the average NFL player earns. You won't see the equivalent of a quarterback dive or a running back or receiver running out of bounds to avoid a tackle. Oh no, rugby players go hard all game long, with little in the way of monetary compensation.

The Field Is Larger

Counting end-zones, an NFL field is 120 yards long and roughly 53 yards wide. The average rugby union pitch is 77 yards wide, with a maximum length of 157 yards. This means players have to run longer to score, and have more room to maneuver on the field.

The Scrum

Football and rugby have a lot in common, and to a first-time observer, the opening cadence & structure of a football play looks strikingly similar to the beginning of a scrum. After all, you've got a bunch of strong, burly men lining up to beat the hell out of each other. But the scrum is a far more chaotic beast than its football counterpart. For one thing, it lasts much longer: 30 seconds, on average, vs 8 for the average NFL player. For another, that mass of bodies involves up to 16 people, and it's so dangerous that it isn't uncommon for people to lose an ear in the bedlam.

No Helmets, No Pads

As we've already conceded, both football and rugby are among the most brutal, physically demanding sports, played only by the strongest and bravest of men. But not so fast: imagine walking onto a field of said strong, burly men with only a mouth guard for protection. That's the reality every rugby player faces before each and every game, because unlike in American football, there is no protective equipment in rugby — no shoulder pads, no helmets, no grills. With no equipment to hide behind, you're forced to confront your opponents head on, and with the average rugby player averaging four times as many tackles as his football counterpart each game, there's a lot of potential for injury and pain — just ask Canada's Connor Braid, who was forced out of his most recent Rugby World Cup match with a broken jaw.

Universal Sports and NBC Sports will be offering select games from the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and the entire tournament action is available through a robust digital service that Universal Sports is offering on a pay-per-view basis.